Shield



Nov. 20, 1956 L. E. SOLDAN SHIELD Filed Nov. 7, 1951 4 4 CSE-- Flq. 7'.

Fig.6,

" INVENTOR LEWIS E. 50L DAM ATTORNEY SLD Lewis E. Soldan, San Diego,Calif.

Application November 7, 1951, Serial No. 255,231

7 Claims. ((11. 135-5) This invention relates to improvements inshields. More particularly, this invention relates to improvements inshields which can be stored compactly, transported readily, and set upeasily.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved shield which can be stored compactly, transported readily andset up easily.

Many persons find it desirable, during their leisure time, to lie in thesun on the seashore, the banks of rivers, or even their own yards, andsome of them have experienced chilling due to sharp wind. The windsoften times are sharp enough to render the sunbathing less than pleasantand oftentimes denies the person the benefits of sunbathing. Inaddition, other persons enjoy eating their meals outside, either attheir homes or at picnic areas. In some instances the weather isotherwise quite pleasant but for the presence of sharp winds. In someinstances the winds are sharp enough to make outdoor eating unpleasant.Moreover, many persons who own house trailers have experienceddiscomfort due to sharp winds bearing upon them when they were seatedunder the awnings of their trailers. Many such persons have given up thepleasure of sitting outside because of the sharpness of Winds. If thesunbathers, the picnickers, and the trailer users had a portable shieldthat is normally compact but which can be extended to provide protectionagainst the winds, they could attain more complete enjoyment of theirvarious avocations. The present invention provides such a shield andthus facilitates more complete enjoyment of leisure time.

The shield provided by the present invention is made with a housing inwhich the wall of the shield can be stored for transporting. This wallcan be pulled from the housing and held in vertical position by suitablesupports; the wall being capable of bending to provide a complete orpartial enclosure for the user. The supports also can be stored withinthe housing and thus the entire shield is readily stored away fortransporting. It is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide a shield which has a housing with a wall that can be storedwithin the housing or extended from the housing and which has supportsfor the wall which can also be stored within the housing.

The wall of the shield provided by the present invention has a handlethereon, and that handle can be grasped to extend the wall from thehousing. The shield is provided with a latch that prevents undesiredextension of the wall from the housing, and when this latch is in placethe handle of the wall can also serve as the handle for the shield. Thusthe one handle serves the dual function of facilitating withdrawal ofthe wall from the housing and of serving as a handle for the shielditself. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide ahandle on the wall of a shield which can also serve as the handle forthe shield itself.

The wall of the shield provided by the present invention is wound upon arotatable support within the housing. This rotatable support has ahandle which can be Patented Nov. 20, 1956 rotated to rotate the supportand wind the wall onto that support. In using the shield the free end ofthe wall will be secured to a support at a distance from the housing andthereafter the handle of the support within the housing will be rotatedto make the wall taut. In this simple way the wall can be erected andmade taut. It is therefore an object of the present invention to providea shield with a housing which has a rotatable support therein, which hasa handle for the support and which can be rotated to wind the wall ontothe support and make the wall taut.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention shouldbecome apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanyingdescription.

In the drawing and accompanying description a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention is shown and described but it is to be understoodthat the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose ofillustration only and do not limit the invention and that the inventionwill be defined by the appended claims.

In the drawing Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a shield that is made inaccordance with the principles and teachings of the present invention,and it shows that shield in extended position,

Fig. 2 is a broken side elevational view of the shield of Fig. 1, and itshows that shield in compact condition for storage or transporting,

Fig. 3 is an end elevational view of the shield of Figs. 1 and 2, and itshows the bottom of that shield,

Fig. 4 is another end elevational view of the shield of Figs. 13 and itshows the top of that shield,

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view of the shield of Figs. 1-4, and it istaken along the plane indicated by the line 5-5 in Fig. 4,

Fig. 6 is a front elevational View of a portion of the wall of theshield of Figs. 15,

Fig. 7 is a broken view of a flexible connector usable with the shieldof Figs. 1-5, and

Fig. 8 is a broken view of another flexible connector used with theshield of Figs. l-5.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 10 generally denotes ahollow housing for the shield provided by the present invention. Thishousing has a narrow elongated slot in the side thereof; such slotterminating short of the top and the bottom of the housing. A pluralityof openings 12 are provided in the end of the housing 10 and thoseopenings are preferably spaced equally around the circumference of thehousing. Two bearings 14 are supported within the housing 10 and thosebearings rotatably confine a hollow support 16. The upper end of support16 is fixedly closed by a cap that engages and is supported by the upperof the bearings 14. An anchor plate 18 is releasably secured to thebottom of the housing 10, as by being bolted to the bearing flange 14 atthe bottom of said housing. Thumb screws 22. are provided to releasablysecure the anchor plate 18 to that hearing flange. normally is exposedbut it also has apoint 20 on the opposite face thereof which can beexposed as indicated by the dotted line in Fig. 5. The point 20 normallyextends within the hollow support 16 and is thus out of the way. It is asimple matter to remove the thumb screws 22 from the anchor plate 18 andfrom the lower bearing flange 14, and set the anchor plate 18 in thedesired position, either with its flat surface exposed or with point 20exposed.

A handle 24 is secured to the cap at the top of support 16 by rivets 25,and one end of that handle projects radially outwardly beyond theperiphery of that end cap. The projecting end of the handle 24 carries apin 26 which can be selectively inserted within or withdrawn fromrecesses 28 in the upper bearing flange 14. These The anchor plate has aflat surface that v recesses 28 coact with the pin 26 of the handle 24to constitute a latch which can hold the handle 24 in a number ofselected, circumferentially spaced positions. With this construction itis possible to withdraw the pin 26 from the recesses 28 and rotate thesupport 16 to any of a given number of predetermined positions and thenreinsert the pin 26 in one of the recesses 28 and positively latch thesupport 16 against further rotation relative to the housing 10.

The numeral 353 denotes a wall which is long and wide but is quite thin.This wall will preferably be made of light weight canvas, clothsheeting, nylon, treated balloon silk or the like so it will berelatively impervious to air and the other elements, but will still bereadily bendable. One end of this wall 30 will be suitably secured tothe support 16, as by cement, fasteners, or ties, so it will not becomeseparated from that support and so it will wind onto that support as thesupport is rotated relative to the housing 10. A number of loops 32 areprovided at spaced points along the wall 30, and those loops are pairedso there is a loop at the top and bottom of the Wall at said points. Theloops are flexible so they can be bent transversely of the wall 30 todefine an axis parallel to that wall. Such axis will not only beparallel to the wall 30 but will be vertically directed. A number ofsupports 34 in the form of hollow rods are provided and those supportsare as long as the wall 30 is wide. Consequently, those supports can beplaced adjacent the wall 30 and have the loops 32 overlie and underliethe ends of those supports. Pins 42 are provided which can extendthrough the loops 32 and into the ends of the supports 34 to maintainthe wall 3i) in assembled relation with the supports 34. These pins areupset intermediate their lengths to provide flanges which limit thetelescoping of the ends of the pins into the ends of the supports 34 andassures the provision of a projecting end of the pin that can extendabove the upset. These projecting ends of the pins can receive the loopson the ends of flexible connectors 46, which may be ropes or cables. Theother ends of the flexible connectors 46 will be secured to pegs 40 thatare driven into the earth adjacent the base of the supports 34. Theflexible connections 46 coact with the pegs 40 to constituteground-engaging elements. Such elements act to hold the supports 34 invertical position, and thus hold the wall 30 in vertical position.

The free end of the wall 30 has a support 38 at the end thereof; thatsupport being a hollow tube which is fixedly secured to the wall as bycement, fasteners or ties. The support 38 is similar to the supports 34but it is inseparable from the wall 30. Pins 42 can be inserted in thetop and bottom of the support 38 just as they can be inserted in the topand bottom of the supports 34, and those pins can either be forced intothe earth or they can receive loops on the ends of the flexibleconnectors 46. The lower ends of the flexible connectors 46 will besecured to the pegs 40. A handle 36 is fixedly secured to the support38, and that handle serves to permit extension of the wall 30 from thehousing 10. When the Wall 30 is wound on the support 16, as shown inFig. and the pin 26 is in one of the recesses 28, as shown in Fig. 5,the wall is held against extension from the housing and then the handle35 can serve as a handle for the shield itself.

The numeral 44 denotes flexible connectors, such as ropes or cables,which are provided with spring clips on the ends thereof. These springclips can be telescoped over the upper end of the housing 10 and snappedinto the openings 12 at that end. The lower ends of the flexibleconnectors 44 can be suitably secured to pegs 40 driven in the ground.

The supports 34 and the flexible connectors 44 and 46, together with thepegs 40 are all readily disposable within the hollow support 16. Toplace those items in that support and maintain them there, it is onlynecessary to remove the thumb screws 22, separate the anchor plate 18from the housing It), insert the supports, the pegs, and the flexibleconnectors within the support 16 and thereafter use the thumb screws 22to hold the anchor plate in assembled relation with the housing 10. Whenthe shield is in compact position, as shown in Fig. 5, the overall sizeof the shield is no greater than the size of the housing It On the otherhand, when the shield is in extended position, it protects a veryconsiderable area against the elements.

To set the shield it is only necessary to remove the thumb screws 22,separate the anchor plate 18 from the housing it), withdraw from thesupport 16 the supports 34, the flexible connectors 44 and 46, and thepegs 40. Thereafter, the anchor plate 18 is reversed so the point 2%)projects outwardly from the housing 10 and the thumb screws are thenseated in the lower bearing flange 14. The point 20 is forced into theground, and this is accomplished readily because the point is sharp; andthereafter the flexible connectors 44 will have the spring clips thereofopened to extend over the upper end of the housing It) and to extendinto the openings 12. For the moment the housing 10 will stand by itselfand while it is so standing the pegs 40 can be driven into the groundand the lower ends of the flexible connectors 44 secured to those pegs.Three pegs will preferably be used and those pegs will preferably bespaced apart ninety degrees. The pegs will be secured in the ground withsufficient permanence to enable the flexible connectors 44 to hold thehousing in upright when the wall 30 is withdrawn through the slot, notshown, in the housing 10. Thereafter, the wall 30 is withdrawn from thehousing 10; the pin 26 of handle 24 first having been withdrawn from therecesses 28 in the upper bearing flange 14. The pin will remain out ofengagement with those recesses as the support 16 rotates during theunwinding of the wall 30. The wall can be drawn out of the housing 10 toits full extent or can be drawn out of that housing to any lesserextent. Once the desired length of wall 30 has been drawn from thehousing 10, the pins 42 are inserted in the ends of the support 38; oneof those pins then being forced down into the ground and the other ofthose pins projecting upwardly from the upper end of the support 38. Theloops of three flexible connectors 46 will be telescoped over the pin 42held by the upper ends of the support 38, and the lower ends of thoseconnectors will be secured to pegs 40 suitably driven into the ground.Preferably those pegs will be three in number and will be spaced ninetydegrees apart. The flexible connectors 46 and the pegs 40 willconstitute ground-engaging elements which will solidly hold the support38 and thus the free end of the wall 30 is vertical position. One ormore supports 34 will be secured to the Wall 30, as by folding the loops32 over the upper and lower ends of those supports and then passing thepins 42 through the loops and into the ends of the supports 34. One ofthe pins in each instance will be forced into the ground and the otherof the pins will project upwardly from the upper end of the support toact as a post over which the loops of the flexible connectors 46 can betelescoped. The lower endsof those flexible connectors will be suitablysecured to pegs 40. The pegs will preferably be used and they will bedisposed on opposite sides of the wall 30. The pegs 40 and the flexibleconnectors 46 will constitute ground-engaging elements which will holdthe supports 34 and thus the wall 30 vertical. Those ground-engagingelements will also hold the supports 34 and the wall 30 with suificientsolidity to avoid the tilting or flattening of the wall 30 even in highwinds. Once the supports 34 are set in position, the handle 24 isrotated to tighten the portion of the wall between the housing 10 andthe nearest support 34. Once that portion of the wall is taut, the pin26 will be inserted in the closest recess 28. Thus the wall can easilybe held taut.

To retract the wall, it is only necessary to removethe flexibleconnectors 46, remove the pins 42, remove the supports 34 and thenrotate the handle 26 so it will wind the wall 30 onto the support 16. Itwill be found preferable to leave the support 38 held by flexibleconnectors 46 and pegs 40 until after the portion of the wall 30 betweenit and the housing has been tightened. Thereafter, the flexibleconnectors 46 can be freed from the pin at the top of the support 38 andthe support then lifted and carried back to the housing 10. Thereafter,the handle 24 can be further rotated to wind the full length of the Wall30 onto the support 16. At such time the flexible connectors 44 can beseparated from the housing 10 and that housing laid on its side. At suchtime the support 38 will abut the slot, not shown, in the wall of thehousing 10 and the handle 36 will project from that support. 'Ihereupon,the handle 24 can be held against further rotation relative to thehousing 10 by setting the pin 26 in the closest recess 28. The supports34 will then be telescoped into the supports 16, the anchor plate 18first having been removed. In addition, the pegs 40 and the flexibleconnectors 44 and 46 will be disposed within the support 16. Thereuponthe pins 42 can be inserted in that support and then the anchor plateagain secured to the lower bearing flange 14 by the thumb screws 22. Atsuch time the point 20 on the anchor plate 18 will extend within thesupport 16, as shown in Fig. 5.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying have shown one form of the presentinvention it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that variouschanges may be made in the form of the invention without affecting thescope thereof.

What I claim is:

1. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprise a hollow housing, a relatively imperviouswall, said wall being long and wide but being thin and being readilybendable, said housing having a support therein, said wall beingbendable to Wind around and be held by said support in retractedposition within said housing, one end of said wall being secured to saidsupport to be inseparable from said housing, the other end of said wallbeing extendable from said housing to intercept the elements, a secondsupport for said wall when said wall is in extended position, saidsecond support being securable to and readily separable from said wall,and a plurality of support-engaging elements on said wall to selectivelyhold or free said second support, the first said support being hollowand having a removable closure for one end thereof, said second supportbeing dimensioned to fit within the first said support.

2. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said wall being long and wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said housing having a support therein, bearings thathold said support for rotation relative to said support, a handle torotate said support, a latch that selectively holds said handle in anyof a number of rotated positions, said wall being bendable to wind ontoand be held by said support as said handle rotates said support relativeto said housing, one end of said wall being secured to said support tobe inseparable from said housing, the other end of said wall beingextendable from said housing to intercept the elements, a second supportfor the said other end of said wall, and ground-engaging elements toanchor said second support, said handle being rotatable to rotate thefirst said support and make said wall taut.

3. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said wall being long and Wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said housing having a hollow support therein, bearingsthat hold said support for rotation relative to said housing, a handleto rotate said support, a latch to lock. said support in rotatedposition, said wall being bendable to wind onto and be held by saidsupport as said support rotates relative to said housing, one end ofsaid wall being secured to said support to be inseparable from saidhousing, the other end of said wall being ex tendable from said housingto intercept the elements, a second support for the said other end ofsaid wall, and a ground-engaging pin that is securable to and readilyseparable from said second support and selectively secures said secondsupport to the ground, said pin being dimensioned to fit within saidhollow support in said housing.

4. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said wall being long and wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said wall being bendable for storage within saidhousing, one end of said wall being inseparable from said housing, theother end of said wall being extendable from said housing to interceptthe elements, a support that is securable to and readily separable fromsaid wall adjacent the said other end thereof to hold said wall inextended position, said support having a hole in the top thereof and ahole in the bottom thereof, a loop at the top of said wall adjacent saidother end of said wall and a loop at the bottom of said wall adjacentsaid other end of said wall, a pin that is extendable through the loopat the top of said wall and into said hole in the top of said support,and a pin that is extendable through the loop at the bottom of said walland into said hole in the bottom of said support.

5. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said wall being long and wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said Wall being Ibendable for storage within saidhousing, one end of said wall lbeing inseparable from said housing, theother end of said wall being extendable from said housing to interceptthe elements, a groundengaging anchor on the bottom of said housing tohold the bottom of said housing fixed relative to the ground, and asupport that is securable to said wall adjacent the said other endthereof to hold said wall in extended position, said anchor having aprojecting point on one side thereof and being relatively flat on theother side thereof, said anchor being selectively securable to saidhousing with its flat side or its pointed side exposed.

6. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said wall being long and wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said wall being bendable for storage within saidhousing, one end of said wall 'being inseparable from said housing, theother end of said wall being ex-tendible from said housing to interceptthe elements, a groundengaging anchor with a point thereon that canpenetrate the ground, a recess in said housing that can accommodate saidpoint on said anchor, said anchor being selectively securable to saidhousing with said point thereon projecting from said housing or beingengageable with said housing with said point in said recess, said anchorbeing adapted to hold the bottom of said housing fixed relative to theground, and a support that is securable to said wall adjacent the saidother end thereof to hold said wall in extended position.

7. An extensible and retractible shield that can provide shelter againstthe elements and that comprises a hollow housing, a relativelyimpervious wall, said Wall being long and wide but being thin and beingreadily bendable, said housing having a support therein, bearings thathold said support for rotation relative to said housing, a handle torotate said support, a latch that selectively holds said handle in anyof a number of rotated positions, one end of said wall being secured tosaid support, said wall being bendable to wind onto and be held by saidsupport as said handle rotates said support relative to said housing, aslot in said housing that receives said wall and permits movement ofsaid wall 'therethrough, a second handle that is secured to the otherend of said wall, said second handle being Wider than said slot in saidhousing so it always projects from said housing, one end of said wellbeing secured to the first said support to be inseparable from saidhousing, the other end of said Wall being extendao'le from said housingto intercept the elements, a second support for the said other end ofsaid wall, and ground-engaging elements to anchor said second support,the first said handle being rotatable to 1'0- tate the first saidsupport and make said wall taut, said second handle serving as a carrierfor the housing whenever said Wall is Wound onto the first said supportand the first said handle is latched in one of said rotated positions.

UNITED STATES PATENTS Harrison Jan. 17, 1888 Roberts Dec. 13, 1927Lasley May 5, 1931 Hutchinson Nov. 2, 1937 Norvell Nov. 22, 1938Killinger May 23, 1939 Treppa Oct. 7, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Great BritainOct. 9, 1940

